The sequel of Assassination Classroom is an equally great adaptation of the manga/anime and concludes the story.

All the absurd characters of the first part return, including the yellow creature with the smiley face as his head and the body of an octopus, the killer robot that has become a “regular” student, the student with the tentacles, the talented assassin, the overly sexy teacher, and many more. This time, however, there is also conflict among the students, as Koro Sensei reveals his identity, and the time that he is about to explode destroying the earth, is near.

The main concept behind the anime is, once more, the passive-aggressive notion, as exemplified by the teacher, who, on the one hand, is a great educator, but on the other, prompts his students to kill him, because he believes that, through this effort, they will become better students and individuals, and a deep bond will be formed between them. The hilarious and preposterous themes and aesthetics are once more present, but this time, the film has a darker tone, as Koro’s tragic past is revealed in a lengthy flashback, the students fight among them, and the final fight ensues, with dramatic repercussions.

Eichiro Hasumi manages to stay very close to the original’s aesthetics, retaining its slapstick nature. The special effects are great and exemplified by the various forms the teacher takes and the battles, most of which are spectacular, particularly due to their pace. The knife fight among the students and the final one, definitely stand apart. The only fault in the direction and the script (if you can call it a fault) is that Hasumi assumes that his audience have already read the manga or watched the anime, thus resulting in a slightly incoherent movie for those that have not.

Most of the actors have a secondary role, with the teacher being the definite protagonist. However, Ryosuke Yamada as Shiota and Masaki Suda as Karma are quite good in their parts. The new additions are even greater, including Kazunari Ninomiya as the God of Death, Hiroki Nomiya as the evil genius and gorgeous Kirei Kiritani as his fiancé. Also gorgeous are Seika Taketomi as Rio and Kang Ji-young as the sexy teacher Irina Jelavic, who is even sultrier than the first part.

Assassination Classroom: Graduation was created to entertain and to achieve commercial success and it fulfilled both of its targets. Fans of slapstick humor, preposterous script and beautiful women will definitely find shelter in this film.

The film is part of the excellent Asian selection of Fantasia International Film Festival that will be on in Montreal until August 3.

My name is Panos Kotzathanasis and I am Greek. Being a fan of Asian cinema and especially of Chinese kung fu and Japanese samurai movies since I was a little kid, I cultivated that love during my adolescence, to extend to the whole of SE Asia.
Starting from my own blog in Greek, I then moved on to write for some of the major publications in Greece, and in a number of websites dealing with (Asian) cinema, such as Taste of Cinema, Hancinema, EasternKicks, Chinese Policy Institute, and of course, Asian Movie Pulse. in which I still continue to contribute.
In the beginning of 2017, I launched my own website, Asian Film Vault, which I merged in 2018 with Asian Movie Pulse, creating the most complete website about the Asian movie industry, as it deals with almost every country from East and South Asia, and definitely all genres.
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